


you're the piano man

by phasedvelocity



Category: Twenty One Pilots
Genre: First Kiss, Fluff, Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, One Shot, Piano, Pining, Unrequited Love, also i teach myself the piano so i might get some of these terms wrong haha yikes, i think its pretty good, i wrote this in 2 days, ish, read this please !!, really gay wow, sorry - Freeform, sorry for grammar mistakes im lazy, they are both idiots, which later be reciprocated he he
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-18
Updated: 2018-11-18
Packaged: 2019-08-25 06:27:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,601
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16655941
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/phasedvelocity/pseuds/phasedvelocity
Summary: “ so this is a C?”, he pressed on the white key. josh looked at tyler, asking for a response.tyler smiled. “ yeah, that’s it. you’re getting it now.”, he let out a soft laugh at josh.“ shut up. don’t patronize me.”, josh tried to stay serious but ended up laughing afterwards.--inspired by the portland show where tyler let josh play the piano in the middle of ride





	you're the piano man

surprisingly, from the amount of years tyler had been best friends with josh, he couldn’t think of a time where they were this close to each other. even when tyler have the familiar urge to get close to him at all times despite excuses he told himself that compensates for it, he never acted upon it. instead he just fought off that temptation and stayed in his spot, ignoring the fact that every cell in his body were longing for josh’s warmth and safety.

 

but now they were here, exactly next to each other, trying not to fall off the stool that they barely fit on. that was why they had to squish and push into each other’s sides to continue sitting on the stool. fortunately, none of them mentioned anything about the discomfort from having to balance themselves for the whole session or the fact that there was no space between them whatsoever.

 

“ woa.”, josh ran his fingers lightly on the piano keys, as if they were delicate and could break into pieces if he touches them roughly. “ this looks complicated.”,

 

that brought a lighthearted chuckle out of tyler as he saw josh bewildered from the instrument that tyler had played and self taught his whole life. “ it is at first.”, tyler pressed a few keys, forming the stripped intro tune of fur elise slowly. “ but it’s fun when you know how to play it.”, he showed off in front of josh by adding a few harmonization and backing keys, forming a more classic 18th century sound. 

 

after he was done, his eyes moved to josh’s reaction. josh’s eyes showed pure admiration and astonishment towards his (quite literally) close friend. his jaw hung a little bit, showing his tongue and his lips soon turned into a grin and his eyes sparkled and filled to the brim with fascination. “ that’s the coolest thing ever.”

 

tyler blushed and began feeling shy as josh compliment him at his piano playing skills. tyler even looked down at the keys and bit his lip to stop himself from smiling too much, “ thank you.”, sheepishly,, he said.

 

“ can you teach me something?”, josh pressed a lower key, which brought a small smile playing on his lips. josh looked like a child on christmas.  

 

tyler sat there, thinking of a song or maybe he could even introduce him to major chords as for starters. he could do that. “ yeah okay.”, tyler lifted his hands onto the ‘C’ key. “ this isn’t that difficult but each of these keys have their own notes.”

 

“ this one is a C.”, he said as he pressed down on the note. he saw in the corner of his eyes that josh was intently looking at his fingers, completely emerged in the lesson. “ and as it goes on, the note changes to D, and then E, F, G, A and B.”, tyler pressed each note, going down the keys. “ and it will repeat itself again, over and over but with the key changed. this set of 7 notes is called an octave. and each octave sounds different as the set of note repeats itself again. ”, 

 

“ i feel so dumb right now.”, josh admitted, “ this is probably the most basic thing that everyone knows.” josh said as he pressed the keys that tyler had previously taught him.

 

“ well, you gotta start somewhere right?”, tyler reassured him, already feeling like josh was shrinking into himself. “ sometimes i don’t even bother to remember the notes and chords.”, he watched josh’s steady hands, pressing slowly on random keys. “ i just kind of..  let my hands press whatever it wants and form a melody.”, 

 

josh’s fingers went a little lower to where tyler’s were and they brushed each other’s fingers for a second, leaving a constant buzzing on the spot that they’ve made contact. his breath in the moment was stuck in his throat but tyler forced the fluttery feeling in his stomach out to focus on the piano.  _ this is no time to be having feelings for your bestfriend. _

 

“ so this is a C?”, he pressed on the white key. josh looked at tyler, asking for a response. 

 

tyler smiled. “ yeah, that’s it. you’re getting it now.”, he let out a soft laugh at josh.

 

“ shut up. don’t patronize me.”, josh tried to stay serious but ended up laughing afterwards. 

 

with blush dusting on tyler’s cheeks, he looked at josh and started to admire his face and his delicate soft hands that tyler so badly wanted to hold. his face showed complete focus towards the piano, tyler guessed josh was trying to remember the set of notes as hard as he can. his face subtly scrunched up and he bit his bottom lip, turning it to ruby red. his eyes reflecting the piano shows determination and beauty. at least in tyler’s eyes those were.

 

tyler took an interest with the way josh’s hands unpredictably move across the piano keys, pressing random notes, forming weird sounding progressions that amused tyler. the air in the room wasn’t helping the way tyler feels either, it felt hot and suffocating, almost making tyler choke on nothing. 

 

tyler wasn’t nervous- okay maybe he was a little bit but who doesn’t? especially when you’re sitting this close to someone that you’ve been fantasizing about being more than friends. tyler did that, he imagined josh touching him the way lovers do, with lingering contact and soft kisses on his skin. josh running his fingers though tyler’s mess of a hair and caressing his cheek, before pulling him into a passionate kiss that he never wanted to end. maybe in his dreams, josh did more than that. his hands would go lower and lower, leaving obvious marks of possession trailing down his neck and stomach until he got to a point where he would stop, teasing tyler and making him beg for more.

 

tyler began to feel his cheeks heating up as vivid images popped up in his head that involved him and his very good friend. he tried to shake his powerful imagination out of his head because it’s not a suitable place to be thinking of his friend  _ that _ way, especially when said friend doesn’t have any chance of ever looking at him as more than friends. it felt almost as if tyler was betraying their friendship by this uncontrollable attraction towards josh.

 

“ tyler?”, josh nudged his shoulder with his shoulder softly. tyler blinked and brought back to the real world by just josh’s soft and honeyed voice.

 

“ what were you saying?”, tyler tried to act like nothing happened. like he didn’t just imagine the person sitting right next to him making love to him. “ sorry.”,

 

josh subtly squinted his eyes at tyler in confusion but the urge to pry was pushed away promptly as he saw tyler looked like he really didn’t want to talk about it. “ uh can you teach me a song?”, 

 

tyler nodded. “ yeah sure okay uh.”, he looks down at his hands on the piano, thinking of a simple song for josh to learn. “ this one isn’t that difficult but i’m sure you can memorize it.”, 

 

tyler inhaled a shaky breath as he starts playing the melody to gymnopedie no.1, slowly letting josh catch up to the note he presses. “ this one is by erik satie, and one of the first songs i’ve ever learned on the piano. it’s more of a slow and sad one and it progressively becoming darker as the song goes on.”,

 

he saw josh nodded at what he said and intently staring at his playing fingers. tyler played the intro melody again without the accompaniment, slowly and making sure josh sees the pattern and how the song progresses. 

 

when tyler finished playing the short intro, he stopped and looked at josh as a signal for him to go on and play what he played. josh looked back at him with hesitant in his eyes, afraid he’ll fuck up and embarrass tyler. tyler took the initiative on his own.

 

“ here.”, tyler reached for josh’s right hand and positioned his hand directly on top of josh’s, slightly hovering.

 

he felt josh froze in his seat as tyler rested his hand on top of his, feeling the warmth and electricity coursing between their skin. tyler softly guided josh’s hands to the keys he should press. the melody rang out as both of their fingers pressed on the each keys forming the intro tune of the song. 

 

tyler’s hands might be shaking and he knew josh can feel it too but he just kept going and ignoring his fast heartbeat and reddening cheeks as much as he can because they are just friends. friends shouldn’t be nervous just by initiating physical contact. this should be a normal thing between them.

 

“ there.”, tyler said as he was done guiding josh’s soft fingers. 

 

he realized he haven’t let go of josh’s hand yet and his eyes cascaded down to where their hands were. it was there, on the lower octave, engulfing on top of josh’s hands comfortably like that was where it should be. where it belonged. and it was true, tyler wanted nothing else in the world other than to belong with josh.. 

 

he saw josh looking down at their hands too like tyler except with a blank stare and tyler immediately feel sick to the stomach and in his throat. what were he thinking? of course josh would be weirded out by them holding hands. it’s as if tyler was implying that they could be something more than just friends. it’s like he’s begging josh to  _ please love me the way i do. _

 

tyler quickly took off his hand from josh’s and let the trembling fade out in his lap. “ um, can you repeat what i just did?”, tyler tried as hard as he can to avoid the sinking feeling in his chest and continued on with the piano lesson.

 

he heard josh gulped and began pressing F key first, like tyler showed him-- or rather guided him-- and he went on with the rest. sometime in the middle, josh would press the wrong key and josh would cringed and squirm at how awful it sounded. tyler would offer him a light chuckle at his reaction to lighten up the mood.

 

he saw a small smile forming on josh’s lips as he heard tyler was enjoying himself watching josh failed miserably at the song. “ i don’t think this is a good method of teaching when you’re laughing at me when i fail.”, josh frowned, jokingly.

 

tyler laughed again at his comment. “ okay okay i’ll stop.”, he exhaled a breath, trying to calm himself down. “ you’re not  _ that _ bad.”, he honestly said, trying to reassure josh.

 

“ really?”, the question filled with shock. “ i honestly thought i’m doing the worse.”, josh said as he tried to do the intro again and stopping in the middle when he forgot how the song goes.

 

“ you’re just starting.”, tyler unintentionally leaned into josh’s side. “ plus i’ve seen people who are way worse.”, tyler gave a soft smile at josh. “ you’re honestly doing great, just need some alone time to memorize the notes.”, 

 

josh sheepishly smiled at tyler’s reassurance words and somewhat compliment at his ongrowing skill. “ can you- can you guide me again?”, josh bravely asked.

 

tyler stuttered in his movements after hearing josh asking him to touch him again. he wasn’t dreaming, was he? tyler obliged and put his hands on top of josh’s again, feeling the familiar buzzing and warmth on his palms. he then guided josh’s hands again to the same notes they have been playing for the past 15 minutes and now tyler was doing it super slow, waiting for josh digest every movement of their fingers,

 

while tyler was trying as hard as he can to stop shaking and slowing down his heartbeat, telling himself  _ this isn’t the time to be pining for his bestfriend. _ tyler who was once forgotten about how close they were sitting, was to be reminded again as he begin to aware of their touching thighs and josh’s heavy breathing. it turned way worse when he could just fall to his knees from the way josh breathe. that was when he thought that this stupid crush for his bestfriend was getting painful and worse.

 

this position they were in was way too intimate for tyler and he didn’t know how he survived until now. he could practically hear josh’s heartbeat underneath the piano melody and his own blood rushing to his face. he was sure that his face looked redder than ever and it couldn’t be passed off as the cold temperature of this room. it’s almost embarrassing at how much tyler longed for josh.

 

tyler took his hand away almost abruptly after he had done guiding josh again and he was starting to feel regret for even be here in the first place. it’s better for him to pine for his bestfriend in his own time rather than trying to hold himself back as hard as he can around him. why can’t he act like a normal fucking person?

 

“ you can do it.”, tyler encouraged. 

 

josh nodded and started playing the tune. even if it’s slow and out of rhythm but in the end, he managed to memorize the notes and formed the whole intro melody of the song. tyler clapped his hands, proud for his bestfriend and beamed with joy as he saw josh also cheering for himself.

 

“ oh my god i did that!”, a grin plastered on josh’s lips. 

 

“ i’m so proud of you.”, tyler offered him a high five which later be reciprocated by josh. “ that was good.”, 

 

“ not gonna lie, that kinda sucked.”, josh giggled. “ we’re just cheering for the bare minimum.”, 

 

tyler recognized the playfulness in his voice and he knew josh was joking, but he still couldn’t help himself to defend his dear friend for looking down upon himself for something that he had tried his best to exceed at. even if the outcome wasn’t perfect, the effort that was put in still mattered and needed to be acknowledged.

 

“ shut up.”, tyler protested. “ you did great and coming from me? that’s huge.”, he playfully slapped his hand on josh’s thigh without thinking.

 

josh laughed at tyler. “ okay, now you’re just being nice.”, he watched tyler with a smile, knowing that his friend got his back always. “ it’s fine dude.”, 

 

tyler blushed -- embarrassed that he might have come off as a little bit too defensive and making josh uncomfortable with his weirdly expressed affection for his friend.  _ you stupid idiot _ . it’s true, tyler really couldn’t act normally around josh, he’d get too weird or too defensive or even too awkward at times when it’s just the two of them in a room. and he hated it. he was sure josh could feel it too, the tension in the air between them and tyler’s internal conflict.

 

his brain was yelling at him to get out before things got even more weirder where tyler would do something weird and idiotic. like kissing josh in the heat of the moment. there are times when tyler couldn’t hold himself back from his temptations and those are the times where tyler normally fuck things up and things will never be the same anymore. he didn’t want that happening with josh.

 

josh was his light, his only hope in this lifeless world and he didn’t want to let him go. even if it meant staying friends until the end, even if it meant that tyler couldn’t touch him the way lovers do, even if it meant that tyler have to let his heart break into pieces because of the lack of reciprocation in his romantic feelings for josh. even if he have to suffer in silence for the rest of his life. he’d rather have his heart thrown onto the ground and get stepped on rather than losing josh. he’d rather get himself hurt than hurting his sweet beautiful angelic josh. he doesn’t know what he’d do with himself if he ever lose josh. 

 

“ there’s a reason why you play the piano and i play the drums.”, josh reasoned. “ except you know how to play the drums too and ukulele and bass.”, he laughed. 

 

tyler almost knocked josh out of the chair they were sitting on because of how strong the impact of his ‘light’ nudge to josh’s shoulders. “ shut up. you’re like the most amazing drummer i know.”, tyler pushed. “ and you’re my bestfriend in the whole world.”  _ ouch, that hurt. _

 

he saw a smile forming on josh’s lips as he looked down upon his hands. “ thank you man.”, josh looked at tyler, automatically initiating eye contact. “ i love you.”, 

 

his heart skipped a beat as he realized how close their faces were. well, sitting this close, that’s a huge possibility that they would make eye contact like this. tyler could practically feel his whole world moving in slow motion and all he could see clear in his vision was josh’s angelic face facing him. weirdly, he couldn’t take his gaze off josh or break this extreme eye contact. he could feel his heart speeding up as he felt josh’s warmth radiating and his calming scent overpowering his sense of smell. 

 

sadly, he knew josh didn’t mean the profession of love towards him that way. the same way that tyler say it and it almost can feel his heart dropped to his stomach. he seen it coming but he never thought it would be this bad, he just thought it would be easy for tyler to get rid of josh in his mind and move on playing music. but it wasn’t that easy, in fact, he didn’t think he can move on from josh ever.

 

tyler faked a laugh, almost forced that he can feel blocking his airway. “ yeah. “ tyler averted his eyes from josh. “ i love you too man.”,  _ please love me back _ . he screamed internally.

 

josh wasn’t stupid, he knew the tension between them was something else since the start and he could practically hear tyler’s head going off and he knew tyler was beating himself up on something. this wasn’t the first time he felt this, it usually there when they hung out alone and just talking. tyler’s eyes would avoid contact with his and his hands would worriedly shake around him. almost like he was moving away from josh.

 

“ tyler? something wrong?”, josh’s voice filled with concern. “ are you okay?”, 

 

_ great, you made him worried.  _

 

tyler head snapped up at josh. “ yeah i’m good.”, he lied. “ i’m just worried about the show tomorrow.”,  _ lies, lies, lies. _

 

he felt josh wrapping his arms around his shoulders, pushing tyler’s head into his chest. tyler froze in his spot, not knowing what to do or what to feel exactly, especially when his unrequited lover was hugging him and trying to comfort him. tyler let josh hug him, enjoying this physical affection as much as he can while it lasts because he didn’t think he would receive it anymore in this intimate atmosphere.

 

“ tyler, they love you.”, josh said into his hair. “ the show tomorrow is going to be great, just like it always have been. we’re in this together man.”, he could feel josh smiling on his head.

 

if he wasn’t mistaken, he could feel josh gave him a quick peck on his hair. he couldn’t be dreaming right now. josh just kissed him on the head and tyler could feel like he could float. tyler immediately flushed, wrapping his hands around josh and hiding his reddening face in josh’s chest. if josh seen him in this state right now, he would be so confused and possibly disgusted. 

 

“ it’s gonna be okay.”, josh looked down at tyler who was holding josh as tight as he can. 

 

tyler almost cried at how gentle and soft josh was being. the embrace that he received gave him the most comfort and he never want to let go. “ are you crying?”, josh questioned as he heard tyler quietly sobbing in his chest.

 

tyler didn’t realize he was  _ actually _ crying. he immediately felt embarrassed at how weak and vulnerable he was being. he buried his face deeper into josh’s shirt until he stopped crying like a pathetic idiot. “ no.”, tyler said into josh’s shirt.

 

he heard josh’s soft laugh vibrated on his face. “ oh my god, you are.”, josh held him tighter. “ it’s okay man. i assure you, the show tomorrow is gonna be sick.”, 

 

_ i’m not crying because of the show, i’m cying because you will never love me like i love you _ was what tyler want to scream at the top of his lungs but he held himself back, leaving josh with no response. 

 

tyler heard josh shushing him and rubbing circles on his back, at an attempt to calm him down. he loved this but he also hated this. he almost want to throw up at how sickening it felt. 

 

“ sorry.”, they finally let go of each other and tyler was covering his face to hide his puffy and bloodshot eyes from josh. “ i’m suddenly emotional.”, tyler let out a fake laugh to change the mood.

 

“ aw man, it’s okay. i know how it feels.”, _ no you don’t _

 

tyler just nodded at him and tried to regulate his breath to calm his breathing. he didn’t want to cry in front of josh anymore, he looked ugly doing so. he shot a small smile at josh, as if saying to him that he’s okay now and that he won’t cry anymore. tyler’s eyes looked down at his tear stained t-shirt and immediately feel guilty. 

 

“ dude, your shirt!”, tyler panicked. “ sorry i-i didn’t think of that-”, tyler tried to come up with ideas on how to get rid of the stain.

 

josh held tyler in place by putting both of his hands on tyler’s arms with a firm grip. “ tyler.”, he slowly said, looking at him. “ it’s okay, it’s just salt water.”, 

 

tyler can’t focus on what josh was saying because he was too focused on the way josh held him down in his seat and how strong his grip on his arms. it’s almost like how he imagined it in his dreams, josh would push him down onto the bed and pinning him down with his hands, keeping him from writhing too much-   _ okay not the suitable time. _

 

an obvious red tint appeared on his cheeks as he cursed his dirty mind away. tyler just nodded at josh, agreeing that it’s just ‘salty water’ on his shirt. what he can’t ignore right now was how josh was holding him down with eye contact, as if trapping him in his place, not able to move or get out. not to mention, how close they were sitting..

 

tyler’s eye accidentally flickered down to josh’s lips, seeing how red and soft it looks-- almost tempting him to just kiss him right there and say  _ suck it! _ to his insecure thoughts. he realized that josh could also see him looking down at his lips, and possibly confused out of his mind because _ why does my straight bestfriend looks like he wants to kiss me? _

 

tyler didn’t realize josh’s face contorted slightly in confusion because he was so caught up in this stupor of how tempting his lips looked like. tyler could almost feel josh’s breath hitting his lips in waves as tyler unintentionally got closer to his face. josh didn’t move, instead he was sitting there like a rock, wondering what tyler was thinking.

 

_ i can’t take it anymore _

 

tyler said  _ fuck you _ to his hesitant thoughts and went for it. he slammed his lips on josh’s out of the blue, earning the satisfaction of being able to kiss the lips he have been longing for their entire friendship. tyler closed his eyes, enjoying how josh’s lips felt like. it felt like everything he had ever wanted in life. it felt like the warm sheets in a cold stormy night. it felt safe and warm and like a glue that hold him together. it felt as if he was a completed puzzle piece.

 

after realizing what he had done, he felt no response from josh. josh was just receiving tyler’s kiss like a stone, sitting there with no remorse or feelings. that was when tyler thought that everything in the world fell apart. the puzzle pieces were no longer held together and the warm bed was gone. 

 

tyler’s eyes widened as he pulled away immediately and looked at josh’s face, searching for an ounce of reciprocacy. even a slight glint in his eyes. but it wasn’t there. and now tyler understood. he understood that it was confirmed josh will never look at him that way. and that he had messed up his friendship in the worst way possible.

 

tyler opened his mouth, trying to say something that would explain everything. but nothing came out except the sound of tyler’s heart dropping lower and lower onto the ground, he could feel this obvious pain in his chest that stayed there, leeching off tyler’s heartbreak and offering painful suffocating feeling in his chest. 

 

“ j-josh i-”, tyler tried, despite the constant red alert in his brain that was screaming at him to get out. “ i-i didn’t-”, 

 

before he could continue, a familiar lips connected his and tyler was taken aback that he almost fell off his chair if it wasn’t for josh’s hands around him, keeping him steady. 

 

_ what the fuck. josh is kissing me right now.  _

 

after tyler’s shock phase ended, tyler melted into the kiss, finally feeling the love and acceptance that he craved for so long. he wrapped his arms around josh’s neck, deepening it further and a whimper came out of his throat at how good josh felt. how good his lips felt and how good the embrace around him felt. 

 

it wasn’t gentle but it wasn’t rough either. it was right in the middle where tyler liked it to be. god, he still couldn’t believe that josh kissed him even in the process of it. his mind was scrambled and he couldn’t think straight ( _ aha _ ) other than josh’s lips finally on his own.

 

they let go of each other and tyler looked at him in disbelief while trying to catch his breath because he was sure that josh stole his ability to breath. he touched his lips where he can still feel the buzzing and he was hoping that he wasn’t in a dream right now because this only happen in his dreams. 

 

“ did you just- did you-”, tyler was on the brink of hyperventilating as he began to feel lightheaded. 

 

in the middle of almost fainting, an angelic soft laugh rung in his ears and tyler’s knees weakened and he thanked god that they were sitting right now. “ i did.”, he saw blush dusting on josh’s cheeks.

 

“ how long?”, tyler determined to know.

 

“ uh from the first time we met.”, josh bit his lips, fighting off a smile. “ that day we brought tacos up to the roof and talked the whole night.”

 

tyler’s pupils practically turned into a heart shape. he couldn’t believe that josh had loved him from the start and he was pining everyday, oblivious to his surroundings. he just wanted to punch his past self badly for not catching the hints that josh had been throwing at him. he was such an idiot.

 

“ really?”, tyler awed. “ how did i not realize that?”, he groaned in regret.

 

josh laughed at his reaction. “ i guess we’re both idiots huh?”, 

 

“ yeah i guess we are.”

**Author's Note:**

> what is this lol


End file.
